Diagnosed w/DCIS yesterday

Robyn:  I'm glad you are feeling better!  Glad you're not continuing with the Tamoxifen, too.

Hey, Robyn:  You are quite welcome.

I actually had my tissue expanders replaced with my implants two weeks ago and am healing nicely.  I'm still a bit tired.

I was very fortunate; I didn't have to take Tamoxifen.  However, I am still depressed from the whole experience and am seeking treatment with a therapist now (definitely not the answer for everyone).

Again, good luck to you, and I'm including this thread in my favorite topics, so I can check back with you periodically.

Julie

Robyn, I can't comment on the TE pain. I'm sorry you're having it!!! I opted to not have reconstruction.

Again, I'll pray for some relief for you. I know you've had a lot of ups and downs. I'm sure you will finally get there where everything will smooth out and be okay.

Hey, Robyn:

Checking on you - hope you are feeling okay today.  

Julie

Robyn, I also had bmx with TEs immediately, had them in 09/29 until 1/24. I had pain for a while and also took vicodin and valium (to stop the muscle spasms). There is another discussion thread on continued tissue expander pain, you can search for that on here as well. I found it much easier after 3 weeks, and was then of course dreading the fills, which were actually pretty easy. The worst was moving around in bed or getting up/down quickly. It gets better - honest. Either that or we just get used to it! Best wishes.

Robyn:  Just checking on you . . . hope you are getting some rest.

Julie

Glad to hear from you!

When I talk about "fills", I mean getting tissue expanders filled with saline. This would be done if you want to increase your cup size, which I did. What happens is the PS fills the tissue expanders once every two weeks, injecting more saline so the chest muscles are stretched. In your case, I think the PS can take some of the saline out to help alleviate some of the heaviness out of your tissue expanders, but I'm not certain about that.

My PS is Michael K. Newman. He is in Torrance, CA, and is one of three surgeons associated with Plastic Surgery Source. Their website is http://www.plasticsurgerysource.com.

Yes, Santa Clara is a neat area. I like it there, too.

Good for you, getting your neck done as a treat to yourself! When I had my replacements, I had lipo of my thighs and butt for the same reason. We deserve something for going through this!!!

I haven't had acupuncture, but if it helps you, that sounds good. A friend of mine at work has it during her noon hours several times a week, just to decompress. Yikes, though, leaving a needle in??? Yes, try it again and see how it works. It's not for everyone!

I lost the left nipple completely, and most of my areola, so they'll have to do nipple reconstruction and tatooing on my left side. I understand about losing the "3-D" portion. Yes, nipple reconstruction involves recreating a nipple from your breast tissue. I've enclosed a link so you can read more about it: http://www.breastreconstruction.org/SecondaryProcedures/NippleAreolaReconstruction.html.

Tomorrow is my first day back at work in 5 months. I'll do my best to keep checking on you; I should be able to keep up with the posts pretty well, so let me know if you have more questions.

Julie

Hi, Robyn:  Glad you are feeling so much better!  and that your pain level is better.  Yes, the implants feel much, much better, although they'll probably never feel like real breasts. 

I was denied going back to work, due to a rash, would you believe!  So, I go back to my G.P. Wednesday and get clearance.  Oh, well, two more weeks off; that's okay.

Will check on you again very soon!

Julie

Robyn,

Did you experience all this before the breast cancer?

You should be out of school soon. Maybe that will help to just be able to relax.

'Sounds like you're doing better. I'm glad!

Robynkk, all great advice from the ladies above. I would only add that at this early juncture don't be too worried because until the final pathology report, the specifics of your DCIS won't be known.

In my case they suspected DCIS but only found ADH in the biopsy. Turned out with my lumpectomy they got clear and good margins, no malignancy was found, and the reason they diagnosed DCIS was because of the cell architecture of the ADH. My grade is low, 1-2. So I had a lumpectomy and after a meeting with the radiologist it was decided no radiation was needed. I said no to mastectomy and drug therapies because it felt to radical in my situation. If I ever have a recurrence and it is more advanced DCIS or invasive, I will be able to have radiation (you can only get it once on the breast treated) or a mastectomy that will be better for reconstruction. Apparently once you have had radiation on a breast the skin may not be suitable for reconstruction, but I'm only going by what others have said on this forum as I have no personal experience with that. In Canada the standard post op therapy for DCIS lumpectomy is radiation and/or Tomoxifin. But depending on the individual case neither may be necessary, so it is very important to have your assessment specific to your pathology result.

I suggest the first thing you do is ensure you have a breast surgeon that is top rated and with whom you are comfortable. It is my understanding that the radiologist (beyond the biopsy stage) and medical oncologist play their part after pathology because until then they don't know exactly what they are dealing with.